Algeria's UN Envoy calls for decolonisation of Western Sahara

Morocco’s recent progress both with western countries and on a UN level to secure sovereignty rights over Western Sahara is drawing fire, perhaps unsurprisingly, from Algeria.

During the UN Special Committee on Decolonization on 10 June, Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama reiterated the North African nation’s longstanding support for self-determination causes and rallied for a decisive end to all forms of colonial activity.

According to AL24 News, Ambassador Bendjama highlighted the unresolved Western Sahara conflict—ongoing for over six decades between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi tribes of the Polisario Front—as a longstanding issue that has remained on the UN decolonization agenda since 1963.

He also disparaged the fact that Western Sahara was the last non-self governing territory on the African continent, enthusiastically encouraging for the UN Committee to “use all levers” at hand to bring a satisfactory conclusion.

The Algerian Permanent Representative has clashed heads with Morocco on this issue, pushing for the “promised self-determination referendum for the Sahrawi people”.

Several other representatives hailing from Namibia, Timor-Leste and Zimbabwe have similarly denounced Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, citing their respective nation’s relatively recent independence struggles.

So far, Morocco’s Autonomy Plan has received support from over 118 countries, notably that of UN Security Council permanent members such as the U.S. and France. Morocco’s UN representative gave an impassioned statement defending against colonial allegations, pointing to a “positive international dynamic in favour of a pragmatic realistic, lasting, political solution based on compromise”.

The Moroccan Representative also expressed disappointment that the UN Committee continues “to erroneously limit the question of the Sahara to a decolonization matter”, citing international support for Morocco and the historical trajectory of this dossier.

AL24 News/ Maghrebi